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The Saga of An Bow-Bender
The Saga of An Bow-bender is about another member of the Hrafnista family that includes Ketil Trout, Grim Hairy-cheek and Arrow-Odd. Chiefly set in Norway, it features almost no forays into the supernatural (although a dwarf provides An with his bow and arrows), unlike the other Sagas of the Men of Hrafnista.
An is an outlaw and archer, much like Robin Hood or William Tell, and most of his saga concerns itself with his struggle to survive in the wilds while feuding with the corrupt king Ingjald of Namdalen. Like his maternal great grandfather Ketil Trout (not to mention other legendary or semi-legendary figures such as Beowulf, Offa, and Prince Hal), An is an idle youth who goes on to prove his worth in later life. And like his kinsman Arrow-Odd, the great feud of his life ends ultimately in an uneasy truce, rather than outright victory or defeat.
An the Bow-bender appears to be identical to Ano Sagittarius (Ano the Archer) in Book Six of Saxo Grammaticus’ Gesta Danorum, although in the latter story he is no longer an outlaw feuding with a king, but a king’s retainer loyal unto the death – although he remains a superlative bowman.
The Hrafnista men were claimed as ancestors by some of the more powerful families in medieval Iceland, and their supposed descendants included the troublesome Egil Skallagrimsson, a Viking par excellence of the Viking Age, and even that violent, treacherous literary figure of medieval Iceland, Snorri Sturluson, author of the Prose Edda. A later version of the saga even noted the presence of men in mid-seventeenth century Iceland who were not ashamed to claim descent from the men of Hrafnista.
An is an outlaw and archer, much like Robin Hood or William Tell, and most of his saga concerns itself with his struggle to survive in the wilds while feuding with the corrupt king Ingjald of Namdalen. Like his maternal great grandfather Ketil Trout (not to mention other legendary or semi-legendary figures such as Beowulf, Offa, and Prince Hal), An is an idle youth who goes on to prove his worth in later life. And like his kinsman Arrow-Odd, the great feud of his life ends ultimately in an uneasy truce, rather than outright victory or defeat.
An the Bow-bender appears to be identical to Ano Sagittarius (Ano the Archer) in Book Six of Saxo Grammaticus’ Gesta Danorum, although in the latter story he is no longer an outlaw feuding with a king, but a king’s retainer loyal unto the death – although he remains a superlative bowman.
The Hrafnista men were claimed as ancestors by some of the more powerful families in medieval Iceland, and their supposed descendants included the troublesome Egil Skallagrimsson, a Viking par excellence of the Viking Age, and even that violent, treacherous literary figure of medieval Iceland, Snorri Sturluson, author of the Prose Edda. A later version of the saga even noted the presence of men in mid-seventeenth century Iceland who were not ashamed to claim descent from the men of Hrafnista.
39 pages, Paperback
Published October 9, 2023
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* They are officially published under that name
* They are traditional stories not attributed to a specific author
* They are religious texts not generally attributed to a specific author
Books whose authorship is merely uncertain should be attributed to Unknown.
See also: Anonymous
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
October 12, 2025
Very good short story, showing you should never mock a person and judge them by how they look.
Displaying 1 of 1 review